Monster pumpkins on the scales: The heaviest pumpkin in Europe was chosen in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. The German champions also took part, but the title went to an old friend.
Ludwigsburg (dpa / lsw) - The heaviest pumpkin in Europe comes from Italy again. At the weigh-in on Sunday in Ludwigsburg, last year's winner and world record holder Stefano Cutrupi clearly prevailed with a 1100.5 kilogram pumpkin - his "heaviest" competitor was the vegetable from Iwan Horde from the Netherlands with 891.5 kilograms. Growers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Austria came with their biggest pumpkins and took part in the competition.
Breeder Cutrupi from Radda in Chianti (Italy) had already set a world record last year with a pumpkin weighing 1226 kilograms. He traveled to the European Championships this year with three pumpkins, one of which was judged. This year's German champions Jakob and David Frommelt from Erkheim (Bavaria) were also present at the weigh-in. At 15 and 17 years old, the brothers are the youngest German pumpkin-growing champions. At 789.5 kilos, they took third place in the pumpkin rankings.
Almost all of the winning pumpkins stay in Ludwigsburg after the weighing in at the Blühendes Barock. They are opened at the Pumpkin Slaughter Festival on November 5th and Thanksgiving weekend in late November to get the seeds inside.
In the gardens around Ludwigsburg Palace, countless specimens and huge pumpkin sculptures can be seen at the annual pumpkin exhibition. In addition to the pumpkins, other ratings were also at stake on Sunday: A kohlrabi weighed 1.9 kilograms and a melon weighed 16.2 kilograms.
